Lena Headey, ‘Game Of Thrones’ Star, Reveals Sexual Harassment Incident With Harvey Weinstein

Game of Thrones star Lena Headey, who plays Cersei Lannister on the hit show, has detailed an incident in which she claims she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein.

LENA HEADEY DESCRIBES HARVEY WEINSTEIN ASSAULT

Headey joins a long list of women who have come forward with accounts of alleged harassment, assault, and rape by the Hollywood producer. She detailed her experience on Twitter. She revealed how the first time she met Weinstein, he came onto her. “At one point Harvey asked me to take a walk down to the water, I walked down with him and he stopped and made some suggestive comment, a gesture, I just laughed it off, I was genuinely shocked,” she wrote. “I remember thinking, it’s got to be a joke. I said something like.. ‘oh come on mate ?!?? It’d be like kissing my dad !! let’s go get a drink, get back to the others. I was never in any other Miramax film.”

Headey describes how she felt safe after that, like he wouldn’t try anything with her again since she’d already said no. The next time she met him was in Los Angeles, when the two met for breakfast under the ruse that he wanted to talk about work. They ate and spoke about films, and a few times he’d ask about her love life.

“He came back and said, let’s go up to the room, I want to give you a script,” she continued. “We walked to the lift and the energy shifted, my whole body went into high alert, the lift was going up and I said to Harvey, I’m not interested in anything other than work, please don’t think I got in here with your any other reason, nothing is going to happen I said. I don’t know what possessed me to speak out at that moment, only that I had such a strong sense of don’t come near me.”

Weinstein’s apparent M.O. was to invite women to his hotel room to talk about potential work, or to meet others for a business meeting. Once in the room, he would try to engage in sexual activities, sometimes by stripping naked, other times with threats. In Headey’s case, they never made it to his room.

“He was silent after I spoke, furious. We got out of the lift and walked to his room. His hand was on my back, he was marching me forward, not a word,” the actress writes. “I felt completely powerless, he tried his key card and it didn’t work, then he got really angry. He walked me back to the lift, through the hotel to the valet, by grabbing and holding tightly to the back of my arm, he paid for my car and whispered in my ear Don’t tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. I got into my car and I cried.”

Weinstein has been terminated from the Weinstein Company. More and more women (and some men) come forward with their stories of sexual assault every day. On Monday, Reese Witherspoon and America Ferrera described their own assault cases, though neither about Weinstein. Weinstein’s behavior has opened a lot of wounds, and encouraged people to address and discuss past abuses.